Case Results

$1,225,000 verdict for a rear end car crash with $100 in property damage

Luis Castro-Ramirez was an $18 per hour truck driver in Los Angeles employed by a corporate trucking giant, Dependable Highway Express, Inc. While he worked there, he needed his employer to honor a work schedule that would enable him to return home early enough in the evening to apply dialysis to his adult son who was suffering from kidney failure. When his new supervisor learned of Mr. Castro-Ramirez's special needs, he gave him an impossible schedule and fired him for not being able to perform it on account of his obligations to his son. After tireless work and negotiations with the employer and its insurance company, eLA secured a non-confidential $1.1 Million settlement for Mr. Castro-Ramirez. This is the largest known settlement of its kind in the area of associational disability discrimination in the workplace.

Disabled worker who was wrongfully terminated by his employer

$1,000,000 settlement for motorcycle crash victim suffering from a brain injury

$1,000,000 settlement for a woman who required a neck surgery because of an injury on a property

Our client was on a pregnancy related medical leave of absence when, unbeknownst to her, a new company took over. She lost her job in the middle of the take-over and was left to fend for herself as a single mother with two kids and a third on the way. We filed a lawsuit and, after a difficult fight, we were able to settle the case for $775,000 without having to go to trial.

Our client was injured at work and began medical treatment requiring a medical leave of absence. Once her doctors cleared her to return to work, her employer completely ignored her in repeated fashion. The employer later claimed it never heard from our client, which we proved to be utterly false. She was forced to later take a much less paying job elsewhere. We filed a lawsuit and quickly settled for $375,000.

Our client worked as a server for a single restaurant (not a chain). Throughout his employment, he and his fellow coworkers were being abused by management when they were required to work before or after shifts without being paid. We filed a lawsuit and quickly recovered $315,000 for all of the workers at this restaurant, including our client.

Our client was a 10 year employee. During the last year of her job, she began treating for various problems with her shoulders and back. During this time, she worked with work restrictions as recommended by he doctors. Finally, her doctors declared that her work restrictions were permanent after about a year of treatment. In response, the employer held a meeting with our client and thereafter repeatedly refused to allow her to continue working even though she had been working in the same position with her disability for the past year. As such, our client lost her job. We filed suit, pushed the matter to close to trial, and finally convinced our client's employer and the insurance company to do the right thing and pay our client for this injustice.

Our client had served his employer for several years. Gradually, he developed an eye condition which prevented him from performing his position. When it came time for the company to restructure, he was the one chosen to be fired. We fought hard arguing that he was chosen because of his eye condition, which is unlawful. At the same time, we discovered that he was not provided lunch breaks or paid for missed lunch breaks. Right before trial, the employer caved in and agreed to pay our client $300,000.

Employee fired after being declared permanently disabled when employer had other positions they knew our client could perform as a disabled worker.

Young lady sexually harassed at work is ultimately fired months after complaining.

$280,000 settlement for a woman who slipped and fell and required shoulder surgery

Our client worked for a company for about 23 years. In 2013, she began treating with a doctor for various health issues, but her doctor permitted her to continue working so long as she worked within her physical limitations related to her health issues. In response, her employer forced her to take a medical leave of absence. Over time, our client repeatedly attempted to return to work, but her employer refused to permit her to return on account of her disability. They wanted her to return without any limitations. We filed a lawsuit alleging that she had been terminated, although her employer had never affirmatively fired her. Ultimately, we were able to get our client back to work and the employer later agreed to pay $275,000 to settle.

$250,000 settlement for a woman who broke her knee at her apartment complex

An employee suffered a fall at work, injuring her shoulder. She was a caregiver. She required a short medical leave of absence to treat with doctors and recuperate. She returned to work with work restrictions after a few short months off and was assigned temporary work upon returning. Her shoulder condition gradually improved and she was reassigned to her normal duties. However, about two months before her termination, her doctor issued a final report discussing that the employee had a permanent disability to her shoulder which prohibited her from reaching high places. Upon receiving this report, the employer terminated the employee's employment without so much as discussing whether the employee thought she could continue working despite her physical limitations. The employer claimed that based on the report and the physical requirements of the job, the employee could not perform her duties. eLA successfully argued that the employer's hasty conduct was unlawful and settled the case for $210,000 even when the employee's hourly rate was about $10.

While on pregnancy leave, our client's employer was bought out by another company and she was assured that once she was ready to return back to work, she would be given a job with the new company like all other active employees. Needless to say, the new employer refused to give our client a job once she was ready to return. We filed a lawsuit and quickly settled for $160,000.

Our client worked as a server for a single restaurant (not a chain). After several years of loyal service, he realized that he and other employees were not adequately being provided their lawful rest and meal breaks during their shifts. We filed a lawsuit and quickly recovered $160,000 for all of the workers at this restaurant, including our client.

Our client injured his back at work. He requested a short time off work to treat with doctors and confirmed his requests with management in text messages. Still, his employer fired him claiming that our client was a no-call no-show for work. We filed a lawsuit and quickly settled for $150,000.

Our client worked in a factory and was earning about $10 per hour when she had to take a medical leave of absence. Her doctors continued to extend her medical leave of absence almost on a monthly basis and the employer approved the extensions. When our client's doctor released her back to work and she attempted to return to work about one year later, she was fired. After filing a lawsuit, ELA learned that our client was replaced about a month before being fired. eLA quickly recovered $150,000 for our client through an out-of-court settlement.

Our client worked as a full-time landscaper for several years. Recently, he requested and was granted time-off by his employer to undergo surgery. When he requested just a couple of months more time-off to recover after his surgery, his employer fired him claiming it was a business "hardship" to allow more time-off. The employer was a billionaire. Hardship? Really? C'mon! eLA recovered $150,000 within months of his termination.

Our client was terminated months into her pregnancy leave. We filed suit and pressured the employer to give our client her job back. Six months after her termination, our client was permitted to return to work by the employer. We then recovered $135,000 in damages for our client a few months later.

Our client was on an extended medical leave of absence recuperating from several health issues. He was out for about six months when his employer sent a letter claiming he had resigned. When our client wrote back correcting the employer, it did not matter and the employer refused to reinstate. We filed a lawsuit and quickly settled for $135,000.

Employer failed to compensate 2 employees they knew weren’t able to take rest and meal breaks.

Our client took a medical leave of absence to nurse a disability and was not permitted to return until she was 100%. We filed a lawsuit and quickly settled for $125,000.

Our client worked as a dishwasher for a popular sushi restaurant in the heart of Los Angeles. After the restaurant repeatedly refused to pay our client overtime wages and refused to permit him to take rest and lunch breaks, we filed a lawsuit. In the middle of the lawsuit, we successfully requested that the judge permit us to investigate the restaurant's identical violations against all other employees of the restaurant. Within weeks after the judge ruled in our client's favor, the restaurant settled for $120,000.

Our client was a long-time cook for a well-known restaurant chain. He was fired because he was not "compatible" with younger workers. A few days after, he was called back and offered a part-time job working at a different restaurant owned by the same company. He refused. eLA quickly recovered $105,000 for our client.

Our client was injured at work and put on work restrictions by her doctor. At around the same time, her work permit in the US expired but she had already applied for a renewal. When her employer found out about the expired work permit, it immediately terminated our client even though she told them that she had applied for a renewal. While the law unfortunately prohibits employment of undocumented workers, it does not permit termination of undocumented workers who have applied for their documents like our client. Even though our client should not have been terminated, it was still unclear whether the employer terminated her because of her work restrictions, which is prohibited by law, or because of a simple mistake. Still, ELA quickly recovered $105,000 for our client by navigating through the legal issues involved.

Employee was caught on camera working slow and carelessly. A few days later, she took a short medical leave of absence related to a complicated pregnancy related medical procedure. When she returned, she was terminated for her performance issues. Employees' Legal Advocates, LLP successfully argued that the real reason for the termination was the employee's pregnancy related medical issue and recovered $100,000 for the employee.

Our client suffered from diabetes forcing him to occasionally miss work because he was not feeling well. He was ultimately fired for excessive absences. Contrary to testimony by his supervisors, his employer denied knowledge of our client missing time from work because of his diabetes. ELA quickly recovered $100,000 for our client out of court.